Yaegaki-Kai

It has been some years now – first time was in ’96 – that Yuki and I go in Japan once or twice a year for Iaido, Family and tourism. But this time was the shortest journey we have ever had -> 5 days with only one thing in our mind IAIDO …

Day 0: Blowing the ashes cloud away
Few days before our Japan trip, I had to cancel a long awaited Iaido travel in Greece for the Greek Iaido Championship and it was not funny at all. Getting close to our departure the fear of a new viking ash cloud covering Europe was growing. We were watching the news everyday to see if all northern European airports were operational. D day arrived … Sky was crystal clear and our flight a breeze -> 13 hours from Brussels to Narita with a 30 min. transfer in Copenhagen. Now serious stuff started …

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9th Iaido Koryu Seminar 2010.
– Date 27,28,29/08/2010.
The 9th Edition of the Iaido Koryu Seminar led by Oda Katsuo sensei held this year from the 27/08 until 29/08, the seminar will be organised as part of the ABKF Summer Seminar 2010 and will be located near Brussels – Louvain La Neuve.5 Senseis will be present:

ODA Katsuo – 8th Dan Hanshi – Eishin Ryu
KATSUMATA Kenichi – 8th Dan Kyoshi – Tamiya Ryu
FURUICHI Norio – 8th Dan Kyoshi – Muso Shinden Ryu
TSUCHIYA N. – 7th Dan Kyoshi – Eishin Ryu

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The katana part called hamon – 刃文 literally translated in Japanese as “blade pattern” is the effect created by the hardening process. The blade created using this hardening process called Yaki-ire will result in different metal hardness on the Ha and Mune parts.

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Having this year the opportunity to be present in Japan for the 106th Kyoto taikai. I thought it would be nice to gather some information about that mythic event.

The Zen Nippon Kendo Embu Taikai (better known as The Kyoto taikai) takes place in the Butokuden (武徳殿) in Kyoto city. The Butokuden construction started in 1895 and was completed in 1899 in Kyoto as part of the Heian-Jingu. The Kyoto taikai occurs every year at the same period – 2nd to 5th of May. The kyoto taikai is the biggest AJKF (All Japan Kendo Federation) event of the year and gather more than 3,100 people from various disciplines.

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Iaido Judging Guidelines for seitei iai – All Japan Kendo Federation Iai Shinsa. Those points are coming from the 2002 version of the ZNKR (All Japan Kendo Federation) Iai Booklet which is focusing on the major points to respect. Of course there are many other points to take care of. Even not speaking about deeper understanding such as ki-ken-tai ichi, jo-ha-kyu, seme/tame, tenouchi.
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In Budo, maybe more specifically in sword/katana related arts, there is an important term/concept which is Heijoshin. Heijoshin is a three kanji word, the first one “Hei” means calm, peaceful, steady. The second one “jo” means always, constant. The third one “Shin” means mind or hearth, the whole inner essence of the individual.

So a final interpretation could be “Keeping your state of mind all the time/in all situation”.

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An informative and rich article by Lorenzo Zago (7th dan Renshi Kendo) focusing on 2 terms seme and tame. In this article Seme is defined as the state in which an unrelenting, determined position of advantage is maintained on the opponent (an other could be -> the retention of superiority in relation to an enemy) and Tame is the link between seme and the completion of the attack.   Read more »